Prickly Pair

10th August 1990 - Hedgehog MCC

This was the second Prickly Pair I had done, and it was in a far less remote setting. Before it had been out in the moors, now it was in a caravan park just outside the town of Otley.

I wasn't alone this time, having acquired a girlfriend at the MAGna Carta Rallye a few weeks beforehand. Although she had her own bike, we decided to both use the BMW, as it had the capacity, and was slightly more reliable - even two-up - than her CB500. We were also accompanied by a couple of fellow ABC members who, although travelling independently, arrived not long after us. Paul rode a big Kwak ZX thingy, and was constantly baffled how I kept up with him on my BMW, which he regarded as much more agricultural than sporty.

Friday proceeded in a leisurely pace in the beer tent, with people sliding gently under the tables as the evening wore on. Jackie proved she was more than up with the scene when she poured the remnants of a bottle of beer down Paul's back after a few 'comments' from him.

Saturday morning arrived, it was not sunny, just a little overcast and, after a quick discussion, we went for a sortie over the hills, and eventually arrived back in the nearby town for a pub lunch. If there had been games, we missed them while we were out, or while we were having a rest in the tent, but it was soon marquee time again. It seemed to be a much more sedate evening than we might had expected, there were still tables and chairs in the marquee, and plenty of room for people to have a party, but no hi-jinks stick in the memory. Even so, people seemed to enjoy themselves.

Sunday was not unpleasant, being a little brighter than the preceding days, and we had a leisurely pack-up before heading south again. I decided against embarrassing Paul again, since we were both carrying a load of camping gear and passengers.

- Phil (the Spill) Drackley